Wire-tying



J. S. McCHESNEY.

WIRE TYING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 6. 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

- J. s. McCHESNEY WIRE TYING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 6. 1917.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v I Jar/67737: M, (54 W 7 am J. S. McCHESNEY.

WIRE TYING.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 6. I917.

Patented Nov. 2,1920.

H E E T 3 llllll IIIII tightening of the wire, and so on.

UNITED STATES JOHN snnnman. mcnnsnnr, or .cmoaeo, ILLINOIS.

wmn-rYING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Application filed January 6, 1917. Serial No. 140,883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SHERMAN Mo- CHEsNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in W1re-Tying; and I- do here y declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the'invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In one of its general aspects, my invention relates to a novel form of wire loop and novel method of forming a closure or fastening forwire loops, regardless of whether or not the wire comprising the loop isal-' ready disposedin efi'ective position for performing the purpose for which the loop is intended. In another aspect, my invention relates to the intertwisting of overlapping portions of wires and to the production of twists in which the extreme tips of the wires are closed to the twists (or integral portions of the latter) and face in predetermined directions. vention relates to the production of finished wire loops, either as free loops or in oper ative position for their intended purposes, from a continuous supply of wire and with a minimum of both labor and waste.

Heretofore, in closing a wire loop by intertwisting portions of the wires, the twisting has been performed upon substantially parallel end portions of the wire which was to form the loop, thereby producing a twist which was not strictly aportion of the loop proper, which normally would project at a considerable angle to the adjacent loop portion and in which the tips of the wire were substantially contiguous. Where such a closure was used upon a loop forming a band or a tie for a package or other object, this twist, being substantially external of the:

loop, has proved unsightly and apt to catch upon adjacent articles, thereby rendering such a wire tie objectionable forboxes orpackages likely to beA-shi ped jointly with ackages having relative y frail wrappers. oreover, in wire-tying objects by this method, it has not been practical to adjust the actual amount of wire used to the vari- I ationsdue to lack of uniformity in the exact size of the objects, difl'erences in the amount of compression or-indenting caused b the onsequently, it has been'necessary to start with a cut piece of wire of the probably required In still another aspect, my inthe loop is maximum length and to waste the difference between this length and what was actually needed; and, if the wire used did not prove quite long enough, the result has been either an inadequate twisting or an undue compressing and indenting of the wire. Likewise, in forming free loops for use as hosebands or the like, the variations inthelstretching of the wire have demanded an excess of wire over that which would be needed if the amount in each-case were adjusted according to this stretching. So also, since the resulting twist if not made with ordinary pliers still closely resembled a plier-made twist, the opening of a loop and the reclosing of thesame b means of common hand tools wouldrea ily escape detection, thus permitting of undetected tampering. Besides, the making of such wire joints has heretofore amount of manual labor and has been at a low rate of speed.

involved a relatively large My invention aims to overcome these objections and to fill widely varying commercial needs by forming the end portion of a supply of wire into the loop and cutting 011' the needed length only after this has been determined for each individual loop; by antomatically tightening the operative wire portion to a redetermined tension; byintertwisting wire portions extending in the preferably by simultaneously forming two twists in each of which one of the prospective loop tips is intertwisted with a wire portion disposed at a considerable distance from the other tip; by severing the wire supply from the loop, and preferably also severing a relatively small wire portion from the other terminal of the loop; by performing this severing at a predetermined point in the twisting, and preferably contmumg the twisting thereafter to direct the wire tips toward the interior of the loop; by temporarily holding the looped'wire in .an initial position to permit the ready insertion of the object to be banded by the'loop,'and by releasi'ngjthis temporary holding when eing tightened by holding the object in operative position while the loop to permit removal of the object; by using slotted and relatively rotatable twisting elements and preferably by using a slotted pinion for one of these elements; and by automatically stopping the twisting operation when thetwists have been completed.

Furthermore, my invention aims to feed the requisite quantlty of wire into its looped position and thereafter to automatically stop the feeding of wire; to aiford simple and positive means for grippin the wire portions which are to be held lmmovable during the forming of the twist; to automatically release the gripping when the twist is approximately completed, and to hold the wire-gripping means inoperative during the feeding of the wire.

'Still further objects will appear hereafter.

In carrying out my invention, 1 may em- I means as including a bell-crank lever and a chine embodying my invention, with the supporting legs omitted.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 2, taken from the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the channel for guiding the feeding of the wire.

Fig. 5 is' an enlarged elevation showing one of the spring latches for retaining. the wire in the channel.

Fig. 6 is an enlar ed bottom viewof a ortion of the. wireeeding mechanism of ig. 1, taken from the line 6-6 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fra mentary view of the clutch on the driving s aft. i

Fig. 8 is an enlarged transverse section through the wire-twisting pinion and the gear driving the latter.

mamas Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing two positions of the loop of wire during the progressive tensioning of the same.

Fig. 10 is a view of a finished loop embodying my invention and made according to the same.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged vertical and longitudinal section through the pinion 31 of Fi 1 and the parts adjacent thereto.

n the embodiment of the drawings, the machine for carrying out my method con sists of wire -feeding,.tensioning and twisting means largely carried by a table 1, the supports for this table as well as for the gearing being omitted to avoid confusion in the drawings, and driven by a motor 2. The table 1 has an aperture surrounding a vertically movable stripper frame 3, which in turn surrounds a pair of slotted guides 4 spaced by a slotted floating inion 5. Mounted on the table 1 is a guide c annel or raceway 6 disposed in the form of a loop forming a continuation, of normally alined slots in the guides 4 and the pinion 5 and presenting end portions extending in opp'osite directions longitudinally of the table.

(inc end of the channel 6 is disposed adjacent to and in alinement with a gap between two wedge-shaped jaws 7 which jaws are normally pressed by'springs 8 agalnst guides 9, thereby contracting t e space between these jaws. The jaws 7, springs 8 and guides 9 are all carried by a slide 10 (as shown in Figs. 2 and 3), which slide can be reciprocated by the movement of an arm 11 extending through the quill-shaft 13 which carries part ofthe gearing for the wire-twisting part of the mechanism. This" arm 11 has a sleeve 12 adjustably mounted on it at the end opposite the slide 10, where this sleeve 12 takes the thrust transmitted through a compression spring 14 by an arm 15 which latter arm carries a roller 16 con tinuously engaging a cam 17. This cam 17 is fast upon the intermediary gear 18 which transmits motion from the continuously driven motor 2 to the quill-shaft 13', so that each rotation of this cam reciprocates the arm 15 and this reciprocation is transmitted through the arm 11 to the slide 10. The quill-shaft 13 which thus has its bore acting as a guide for the arm 11 is, journaled in .bearings 61 and 62 depending from the under side of the table 1, and this table also carries a depending'fork 63 which prevents 'the hereafter mentioned spur gear 31 from being moved longitudinally toward the slide 10 or out of engagement with the gear 18.

Fast upon the gear shaft 13 is a gear 19 meshing with and supporting the slotted pinion 5, as shown in Fig. 8; also, the shaft 13 carries a pair of cutters 20 each adapted to project through an opening 21 during a portion of every revolution of the said shaft, and a finger 22 disposed slightly behind the cutters and adapted to engage a lug 23 associated with an extension table 24. This extension table is'connected to the main table by slides 25, one of which slides is here shown as carrying the lug 23, and is continuously urged away from the main table by the spring 26 shown in Fig. 3. Associated with the left-hand or entrance end of the guide channel 6 are Suitable wire-feeding means, such as a pair of rollers 27, one of which is driven throu h a worm 28 by a worm-wheel 29 axially allned with the inter-- gear shaft 13 for affording a temporary connection between the latter and the spur gear 31 whichlmeshes with the gear 18. Thus, constructed, the clutch includes a body member slidably carrying a spring-pressed latch pin 33 adapted to engage a ratchet formation 34 on the gear 18 and also adapted to be drawn'out of its said engagement by a finger 35 which engages a strap 36 fastened to the pin 33 when the latter is completing one're'volution. This finger 35 may in turn be moved out of its said engagement by a lever 37, so,that the movement of this lever will set the clutch into action. In this connection it will be noted that the wire is guided, by thechannel 6, in a predetermined plane and held in such plane untensioned about the object. The guide channel thus accurately determines the plane of theproposed wire band about the box and enables Y. the operator to position the loop exactly with respect to the same.

Mounted on the table 1 are a pair of pivoted grippers 38, presenting tips adapted to bear against stops 39, the grippers being urged continually into their said relations to the stops by springs 40 but adapted to be moved in the opposite direction by fingers 41 projecting through perforations in the extension table 24 and carried by a frame 42 pivoted to the under sideof the latter.

Thus, arranged, the machine illustrated operates, as follows in carrying out my method for wire-tyin a package 43, in dotted lines in Fig, 1: ith the motor 2running continuously, the lever 37 is first thrown, thereby actuating the clutch for connecting the intermediate gear 18 with the Wire feeding means for a period correspond ing to one revolution of the latter, during which period the rollers 27 will then move the wire 44 forcibly toward the right or into the loop-shaped guide channel 6. While this is occurring the gear shaft 13 is stationary (owing to the unlatching of the upper clutch by the finger controlled by another lever 37) and the finger 22 on this shaft is pressing against the lug 23 and thereby holding table 24 in closed position. When thus pressed toward the main table, the extension table 24 through a pin 45 upon the latter moves a lever 46 pivoted on the slide 10 and presenting a perforated tip partially housing pins 47 on the jaws 7, so that a wedge shaped portion of this perforated tip spreads the jaws 7 apart while this tip is moving the latter toward the left against the pressure of the springs 8. Consequently the jaws 7 are spread farther apart than the thickness of the wire 44, so that the "feeding mechanism can readily slide the latter be tween these jaws and into the loop-shaped guide-channel, in doing which portions of the wire are fed respectively between the stops 39 and the tips of the grippers 38, and overlapping portions of the wire are fed through the allined slots in the floating pin- 7 ion 5 and the guides 4 adjacent to the latter. As soon as the lower clutch has made one revolution and approximately coincident with the automatic disconnection of this clutch, a cam48 strikes the end of a lever 49 pivoted in a bearing 50 under the table thereby moving the pivoted frame 42 against the pressure of a spring 51." This depressing of the frame 42 moves the fingers 41 out of the path of the gripper levers 38 so that the springs 40 force the latter to grip wire portions between the latter and the stops 39. The depressing of the frame 42 also carries the pin 45 out of [the path of the lever 46, thereby permitting this lever to swing freely and without further effect upon the jaws 7. Consequently, the next movement of the slide 10 to the left will cause the wedges carried by the slide to force the jaws against the "wire 44, thus pulling upon the wire of a loop. During the return movement of the slide the jaws Wlll sl 1 de upon the wire, which is kept from retraction by the left-hand gripper 38, and the next leftward movement of the slide will again pull on the loop. In this way the slide (which is continuously reciprocated by the action of the cam 17 through the roller 16 and the arm 11) will tension the wire around the object until the effective tension equals that of the spring 14, after which a further movement, of the arm 15 will merely compress the spring 14 without moving the sleeve 12 and the arm 11 connecting this sleeve with the slide 10. Hence, by turning the adjusting nut 52 and thus altering the compression of the spring 14, the tightening of the wire loop about the object can be adjusted to any desired tension, and the operator readily sees when the point is reached from the standing still of the slide 10.

ticipating this completion by a quarter turn of the pinion 5, the cutters on the main shaft will operate through the openings 21 in the table 1, thereby severing the lower-' most portions of the Wires respectively from the extreme tip or free end of the original wire stock and from the supply of wire.

This severing is performed upon the same wire portions which were originally lowermost, as in Fig. 9, and the final quarter turn of the twisting then turns the terminals of the twists approximately toward the interior of the loop, so that these terminals cannot catch on objects outside the loop. Finally, the engagement of the pin 22 with the lug 23. moves the extension table toward the main table, thereby causing the fingers 4:1 to move the grippers 38 out of operative relation to the wire, while the automatic clutch on the main shaft stops the latter with the pinion 5 in the position'of Fig. 8. The left-hand cutter 20 after performing its cutting operation engages one corner portion of a slide 53, thereby moving this slide out of its normal position of Fig. 2, or upward in this figure. This slide, as shown in Fig. 1, normally presents tips disposed between the lower portion of the loop and the object which is being handed, thereby spacing these apart to allow room for the rotating of the pinion 5 without damaging the object.

These fingers would prevent the banded object from being raised off the table after the wire-banding operation is completed, but the left-hand cutter moves the slide 53 so as to carry the fingers clear of the wire loop. The banded object can then be withdrawn and another object (package, loop form or the like) substituted for it, after which the cycle of operations is resumed, the slide 53 being moved into its operative spaced position by a spring 54 as soon as the main shaft carries the left-hand cutter tip 20 m of engagement with this slide.

To prevent the wire from accidentally leaping over the edge of the guide channel while being fed into the same, I preferably provide the latter at a number of points with spring latches for resisting a movementof the wire out of the channel as for example, the latch shown in Fig. 5, in which pivoted arms 55 are so held by springs thatthey will resist the upward movement of the wire past them, but will permit this if the force meas esis-suficiently great. However, I do not Wish scribed, I can produce distinctive wire loops by my method, which loops can then be slipped off the form.

I claim as my invention:

1. In the wire-tying of .an object, the steps of holding the wire in a loop formation against retrograde movement and loosely encircling the object, tightening the Y loop to tension the loop about the object,

and thereafter securing terminal portions to each other by intertwisting the same.

2. In the wire-tying of an object, the steps of holding the wire in the form of a loop loosely encircling the object and with a free end portion of the wire extending in parallel overlapping relation to a non-terminal portion of the wire, while permitting forward movement of the said non-terminal wire portion butpreventing retrograde movement thereof; tightening the loop by such forward movement of the wire alongside thesaid free end portion while continuously maintaining the latter in overlapping relation to the moving wire portion and thereby tensioning the loop about the object, and thereafter intertwisting the said free end portion with the other ,wire portion overlapped by the same after the said tensioning has been accomplished.

3. In the wire-tying of an object, the steps of disposing a loop-of wire around the object to effect a parallel and contiguous overlapping of wire loop portions spaced from the initial ends of the loop, holding the loop against retrograde movement,

tightening the loop about the object to a predetermined tension, and thereafter securing the overlapped wire portions to each other.

4. In the wire-tying of an object, the steps of disposing a loop of wire around the object to effect a parallel and contiguous overlapping-of wire loop portions spaced both from the initial ends of the loop, and from the object, holding the loop against retrograde movement, tightening the loop about the object to a predetermined extent while maintaining the said relation of the wire loop portions, and thereafter intertwisting the said wire portions.

5. The method of closing a wire loop h aving terminal portions overlapping in con-' tiguous parallel relation in the general direction of the wire portions leading thereto,

intertwisting the overlapped wire portions intermediate of said parts, and severing the intertwisted portions from the extreme tip portions during the said intertwisting and prior to the completion of the latter, thereby turning the effective ends of the wire loop toward the interior of the latter.

6. In the wire-tyingof an object, the successive steps of feeding one end of a supply of wire into a loop formation around the object, discontinuing the feeding and gripping the free end of the wire, tensioning the loop about the object to a predetermined tension, intertwisting overlapped loop portions while maintaining the loop under tension, and simultaneously severing the wire of the loop from the supply and from its the loop by a pull on the wire exerted in a extreme tip. 7

7. In the manufacture of a wire loop, the steps of disposing the wire in loop form about an object with a part of the loop in parallel overlapping relation to the part leading to the free end of the wire, gripping the said free end, retracting the other end of the loop by a step-by-step movement to produce a predetermined tensioning of the loop, and thereafter intertwisting a portion of the overlapping wire parts.

8. The method of closing a wire loop which includes the steps of disposing the wire with each of its prospective terminals contiguous to and in parallel overlapping relation to a wire portion spaced from the other terminal, and intertwisting a part of the overlapped wire portions between the terminals ,while maintaining the wire under tension, severingterminal portions of the wire adjacent to the loop at points disposed peripherally of the loop and close to the intertwisting and thereafter turning the loop 40 ends toward the interior of the loop.

9. In the wire-banding of an object, the steps of holding wire in a loop formation of greater bore than the periphery of the object and with ortions thereof longitudi nally overlapped, inserting the object in the loop, contractingthe loop about the object to a predetermined tension, and securing the said overlapped portions to each other while maintaining the tensioning. r v 10. In the wire-banding of an object, the steps of holding wire in a predetermined, plane and in a loop of greater bore than the periphery of the object, providing support adjacent .to the loop for the object, positioning the object upon the support, tensioning plane substantially coincident with that of the loop, and thereafter intertwisting terminal portions of the loop.

11. In the wire-banding of an object, the steps of holding the wire in the form of a loop spaced from the object so as to loosely encircle the same and disposed in a predetermined plane, tightening the loop to tension the latter about the object, and thereafter securing terminal loop portions to each other by intertwisting the same. I,

12. In a wire-banding of an object, the

steps of guiding and holding a loop of wire 70 v of greater circumference than the periphery of the object ina predetermined plane, tightening the loop about the object while in. the said plane, and thereafter securing the end portions of the loop-forming wire to 75 each other by intertwisting the same.

Si ned at Chica o, Janna 4, 1917. v

OHN SHE MAN MOCHESNEY. 

